I Forgot About Sparkstone

After writing my post yesterday about what novellas I’d like to publish next, I sat down to write on Two-Spirit. I sifted through what I’d already wrote. I had some ideas on how to improve some things. But when it actually came to writing, I was stumped. Okay, not really stumped…just…uninspired. As much as I like the story, and some of the characters, I just couldn’t bring myself to spruce it up.

I realized…I don’t really want to publish Two-Spirit. Not right now, anyway. And if I’m not feeling it with a story, there’s no point in me hustling just to get it done, because I’m not going to publish something that a) I feel is sub-par or b) that I’m not 100% in love with.

So I moped around for a while, thinking, how can this be, I don’t want to publish Two-Spirit, Darkest Fae needs more development…when it finally hit me.

Sparkstone. I totally forgot about Sparkstone.

(ignore the unfinished, unpolished look of this graphic. It’s really a placeholder for something that Dave & I will design. The cover will be amazingly pretty.)

Sparkstone had many, many forms. First, I was going to write it as TV episodes. Actually I got three of them done. Then, I decided earlier this year I’d make it into a serial fiction. But that never happened, too busy publishing books. This is a story I’ve got mapped out, that I am really excited about. I can totally work on this and publish these as novellas, for the people who don’t want to wait until the autumn of each year to get the latest Faery Ink Press book.

Teaser copy:

A girl who burns both hot and cold;
A girl who can fade into the background without a trace;
A guy who knows exactly what you are thinking, before you think it;
A girl who dreams of her own death.
Welcome to Sparkstone, where some students are more gifted than others.
When Ingrid receives word that she has been accepted at the hyper-secretive Sparkstone University, she is sceptical. It’s an honour to attend, apparently, and yet no one has ever heard of the place.
And everyone seems a little too happy that she’s there. As if she was expected. Expected to save Earth from an imminent alien invasion. Like she has superpowers or something.
As if magic and mutations exist. As if aliens are really planning to attack.
That just sounds ridiculous. There’s no such thing.
…right?
Wrong.

I’d already had some written on it, but not as much as I’ve written on Two-Spirit or Darkest Fae. Sparkstone is a young adult science fiction series that takes place in north-western Canada. The community of Sparkstone has a very prestigious university, known only to the students who have been chosen to attend. Ingrid is lucky enough to receive an acceptance letter…except she doesn’t even remember applying. Upon arrival, she meets a group of students who have extraordinary gifts…and claim that she’s one of them. It’s too unreal to be true, until strange extraterrestrial happenings convince her otherwise. The school seems to be run by people who aren’t human, and everything that Ingrid does is monitored. She and the Sparks must discover what the true intentions of these otherworldly visitors are, because whatever it is, it isn’t good.

Oh, and yes, there’s romance. 🙂

I’m going to get as much of this done in the next month or so, and then see where I can take it from there.